With a constitutional challenge in New Jersey, potential legislative action in several states, and individual decisions by operators across the country, the number of smokefree casino floors appears primed to expand in 2025.
“We’re going to see more casinos, particularly tribal, make this smart decision to go smokefree,” Cynthia Hallett, president and CEO of Americans for Nonsmokers’ Rights (ANR), told CDC Gaming.
Nancy Erika Smith, a lawyer representing Atlantic City gaming employees challenging the casino exemption to New Jersey’s clean-air law, said she’s heard from numerous lawyers and smokefree advocates who see the case as a possible precedent “to stop poisoning workers in casinos.”
Superstar slot influencer Brian Christopher, in his third year of limiting appearances to smokefree casinos, said his followers – and gamblers in general – overwhelmingly support clean air on gaming floors, while representatives of casinos and slot manufacturers privately encourage him to keep up the push. Those insiders “all know it’s the right thing to do, but everyone’s afraid to say anything (publicly),” he added.
Smith’s appeal of last year’s lower-court ruling against her New Jersey lawsuit is due to be heard this year. Written briefs were filed in December and Smith said the Appellate Court will schedule oral arguments, “which they often hold right before they’re ready to rule.” The suit was filed on behalf of United Auto Workers Region 9, which represents employees at Bally’s, Caesars, and Tropicana casinos in Atlantic City, and the New Jersey chapter of Casino Employees Against Smoking’s Effects, whose 3,000-plus members include workers from all Atlantic City casinos.
It contends that a law allowing smoking on up to 25 percent of a casino floor violates the state constitution; it deprives dealers and other employees of health protections that virtually every other New Jersey worker enjoys. The state’s constitution, unlike its federal counterpart, specifies “safety” as one of a citizen’s unalienable rights.
Hallett sees New Jersey, Rhode Island, and Kansas as the top candidates to bring commercial casinos under statewide clean-air rules this year, while Pennsylvania’s effort needs “more groundwork.” ANR lists 1,077 U.S. casinos and other gaming properties with 100 percent smokefree indoor-air policies.
Some operators voluntarily ban smoking, pointing to health concerns for their employees and customers. The Keweenaw Bay Indian Community in Michigan recently announced that Ojibwa Casino’s Baraga and Marquette locations will become smokefree March 24. The Sault Ste. Marie Tribe of Chippewa Indians, Michigan’s biggest tribal nation, made its five Kewadin casinos smokefree in November. In Pennsylvania, the most profitable commercial casino has been voluntarily smokefree since COVID restrictions were lifted in 2021.
“We’ve seen a significant increase in customer-satisfaction survey responses praising the smokefree environment and very few criticizing the inability to smoke,” said Marc Oppenheimer, chief marketing officer at Parx Casino in Philadelphia. Early on, Parx added a non-gaming smoking patio with easy access to and from the casino floor.
“Employee satisfaction has increased greatly,” Oppenheimer said. “And we believe we’ve gained as many customers for being smokefree as we’ve lost for not allowing indoor smoking.”
This year marks the 35th anniversary of smokefree flights in the United States and the 10th anniversary of New Orleans’s banning smoking in casinos and bars. Surveys repeatedly show 85 percent or more of casino customers prefer smokefree gaming. “Gamblers just want to gamble,” Christopher said.
Smith and Christopher said legislatures’ reluctance to apply clean-air laws to commercial casinos reflects the influence of tobacco and casino lobbyists.
“It shows everything that’s wrong with our political system,” Smith said. “It’s a horrible message and we hope the courts will rise above it.”
Christopher said many operators who insist smoking is necessary should look more critically at the basics of their operation. In many cases, he continued, he wouldn’t patronize a casino, regardless of its smoking policy, because of its poor music, atmosphere, lighting, or game selection. “They need to focus on their offerings, not smoking.”
He encouraged casino workers and players to speak up about the need for smokefree air. “It literally takes one person at a casino or a property to make the change,” he said. “We’ve heard from many casinos (that) ‘We all knew that smoking was bad, but no one brought it up.’”
